


Soulmates

by LilyPotteri



Category: The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Eventual Smut, Fluff, I just wanted to write some Patrochilles reincarnation fluff, I make this up as I go, M/M, Reincarnation, Soulmates, i have no idea what this is, in the later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-06-01 09:37:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6512992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyPotteri/pseuds/LilyPotteri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aphrodite and Zeus make a bet about true love and soulmates. To prove her point, the Goddess of Love brings back two lovers from the afterlife and puts them on Earth.<br/>Will they find eachother again with no memory of their past life? Tune in, and find out :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 

“Sweet ambrosia, my dear daughter, you are talking nonsense!”

Zeus was laughing, his voice resonating across the huge halls of Olympus.

“Laugh as you wish, Father, but I speak only of the truth. True love is eternal, and death shall not harm it. Those who really loved each other will meet again in Hades.”

“You may fool the mortals with these sickeningly sweet lies, but not me. Love is lust. It’s conquest, and a matter of procreation.”

Aphrodite became angry from that. His father might be great God of Thunder, but even he shouldn’t lecture the Goddess of Love on the thing she knew best. She desperately wished to wipe that smug know-it-all grin off Zeus’ face.

“You are so sure you would bet on it?”

“Oh, you have my attention, daughter.”

Aphrodite smiled. Oh how easy it is to manipulate his father with his well-known gambling obsession.

“So if I bring back two long gone lovers and place them on Earth without any memory from their past… they will never find eachother again?”

Zeus scratched his beard.

“I like this. If they do end up back together, I will make them immortal and give them a place on Olympus. But if they don’t get together in… let’s say 25 years of their new life, you my daughter will live amongst your beloved mortals for a decade. Without your powers of course..”

“You got yourself a deal, Father.”

Living as a mortal wasn’t so tempting, but Aphrodite had faith in love and she desperately wanted to prove Zeus wrong.

~*~*~*

“Beautiful Lady, what a pleasant surprise! Your presence brightens up my gloomy place.”

The Goddess of Love shivered under the lustful glare of his uncle, but she was here on a mission.

“Thank you, Hades. I came for your help with something that might anger Zeus.”

“I’m listening. Anything for the noble cause.”

“I’m looking for the souls of Achilles and Patroclus, I need to bring them back to life. If my plan works out we can prove Zeus wrong.”

Hades grinned at that, and with the flick of his wrist, he summoned a richly upholstered settee.

“Tell me everything!”

 


	2. First day of school

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of term with new/old friends and new/old lovers. 
> 
> Thank you for all your kind comments on the prologue, darlings! They made my day :)

**Chapter 1**

The alarm clock went off with a loud blaring sound. A hand reached out from under the blanket to put it out, soon followed by the whole body.

It was the first day of the semester at Pythia University and Patroclus was already late from his first lecture.

“Oh, fuck-a-doodle” he ran his fingers through his dark brown locks. “Okay, Pat, just try to concentrate.”

Yesterday was a blur of moving, packing and drinking. Standard university thing - or so he was told. 

Patroclus was never the partying type, even when his former classmates tried to get him drunk in high-school, he prefered the peace of his room.

But now he was in a new city and a new school, desperately trying to fit in, so he went to one of the many semester-launching parties. 

Which meant he was not only very late, but had a hangover for the first time of his life. And he totally would have been okay with missing out on this experience.

Patroclus looked over to his roommate’s bed, but the guy must have spent the night somewhere else. He met Paris Priamides yesterday, and the he seemed like a decent guy. 

With his dark hair and fine features, Paris was the type people call ‘pretty boy’. But he wasn’t Pat’s type so thankfully there would be no awkward ‘having a crush on your roommate’ situation going on. 

That was another thing that always made Patroclus feel like sticking out as a sore thumb. He wasn’t really out in high-school, but his close friends knew that had little interest in girls. Not like he ever had a boyfriend or anything, he just knew what he prefered.

 

Luckily he found the lecture hall easily so he managed to be only 10 minutes late.

The professor was kind enough not to remark on him showing up during her introductory speech and Pat quickly sat down in the back row.

After the 90 minutes he seriously started to question his choice of major. 

“Don’t look so afraid, I have a friend who took this class last year. It’s tough, but manageable.” The girl on his left said with a smile. “I’m Briseis by the way.”

Patroclus shook her hand gratefully. “Patroclus Chironidesz. And I know that, it’s just so overwhelming. And first year med-students have the highest rates of falling out in the first term.”

The girl gave him a pat on the shoulder. 

“You wouldn’t even be here if you couldn’t make it. Pythia University is the best in all of Greece. Want to join my study group?”

“You have a study group? Who is in it?”

“Well if you join, it’s gonna be the two of us.”

Patroclus cracked up at that. Briseis gave her a mischievous grin as they walked through campus. 

“Of course I will join your exclusive group. I wouldn’t miss out on an opportunity such as this.”

“You are fun, I think I might keep you. Where do you live?”

“In the southern building. Third floor.”

Briseis stopped in her track so abruptly, Patroclus almost bumped into her.

“Who is your roommate? Is it, by any chance a guy with curly black hair and a toothpaste-advertising smile? Going by the name of Paris Priamides?”

Patroclus furrowed his brows at that. 

“Yeah, that’s his name. Why? Do you know him?”

Briseis started to laugh so hard Patroclus feared the girl would lose her breath. 

“Yeah, you could say that. Oh this is gold. Fate brought me right next to my big brother’s roommate.”

Patroclus looked at the girl closely and know that he knew what to look for, he could see the resemblance. Briseis had the same shade of hair and their eyes were similar as well.

“Tell me what you think of Paris. Did you meet his girlfriend? I was surprised they didn’t move in together.”

Patroclus shook his head.    
“We met very briefly yesterday. He just unpacked his bags and took off. Didn’t even come home for the night.”

“That’s my brother, always mad from love.”

 

Since they both had a free period, they agreed to sit down in the cafeteria.

“So, Patroclus what’s your story? How did you end up in legendary Pythia?”

Pat bit his lip awkwardly. He wasn’t used to talking about himself. 

“Ehm, I’m adopted. My father is a doctor and I always loved to help him at the hospital. Healing people, helping them, saving lives. It’s the most wonderful thing someone could do. And Pythia has the best program in medicine. And I was always drawn to this place. Don’t know why. And you? Is Paris your only sibling?”

“Oh no, I have two brothers. Hector serves in the military though, so I don’t see him very often. He tried to get Paris to join him, but he is a softie and wouldn’t leave Helen’s side for so long. She is his world. It’s kind of cute. Do you have a girlfriend at home, Patroclus?”

That was the question Patroclus was scared of and he could already feel himself getting all red as a tomato. 

“No, I never really dated anyone. I’m just waiting for the right… person to come along.”

“I see. Well, university is a perfect place to get to know new… people.” She finished with a wink. “I never had a boyfriend either. Went on a couple of dates, but with no luck. And a big brother in the military kind of scares them away. Well I don’t blame them, I wouldn’t dare to anger Hector.”

Patroclus felt a strange pull in his chest. He suddenly felt anger and fear from that name. But it was a hollow sensation and passed away in a second, before he even fully realized it. 

“I am an only child.” He said at last. “My adoptive father took me in when I was very young, don’t really remember anything before it. He never told me about my birth parents and I didn’t ask.”

Briseis replied something, but her voice got lost in the suddenly erupted noise.

 

“Punch him! Go on, do it!”

It really seemed like a fight, so they followed the voices into the entrance hall. The crowd was standing in a circle around two guys rolling on the floor. 

One of them, a fair-haired sleek boy quickly gained the upper hand and pushed his opponent down triumphantly.

“Don’t you ever call me that again.” He said, and Patroclus felt like the world suddenly stopped spinning. He heard that voice before, and it sounded so dear to him. 

The blonde stood up, moving like an athlete and looked around.

“What are you all looking at?”he snapped with arms crossed before his chest. 

Patroclus couldn’t breath. His heart was beating like some kind of drum, throat closing up in shock. He couldn’t stop staring at the boy, who now cut through the gaping crowd of people with such dignity, Patroclus was sure he must be some kind of deity. 

“You are staring.” Briseis pulled him out of his stance with an elbow to his side.

“I’m in love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still make this up as I go :) What do you think?


	3. Do I know you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a little help from Briseis, the boys finally meet, and Patroclus has a very meaningful dream

In the following weeks Patroclus kept on bumping into the beautiful blonde boy everywhere he went. He seemed to be in every single one of Patroclus’ lectures, which made paying attention very hard, since the brown haired boy just couldn’t stop his staring.

“Stop drooling over him and go, introduce yourself!”

Briseis said one day when they were sitting in their usual spot in the back row, waiting to the professor to arrive. 

“And what exactly should I say to him?  _ Hi there, I think you are dreamy as hell, want to grab a coffee?  _ “

“Yeah, something like that.”

Patroclus looked at the girl as if she had two heads.

“Not happening. I’m clearly out of his league. Just look at him, he is literally perfect.”

Briseis rolled her eyes at that. In the past days she got to know the quiet young man, with all his insecurities and self-consciousness. She understood, even though Patroclus wasn’t hard on the eyes at all. With shoulder-length hair and fine features, the only thing he lacked was confidence to have the world at his feet.

“You don’t know that without asking first. But there is no need to be direct, though. You can just invite him to our study group.”

“I don’t trust my voice in front of him. I would make a complete fool of myself and probably die from embarrassment.”

Briseis smiled at that, as a plan conjured in her mind. 

“Oh you gonna owe me big time for this.” she said standing up.

“Where are you going?”

“Relax, the professor is always late. I’m going to be back in a second.”

*

Achilles sat alone in the front row, looking like he was somewhere else, doodling mindlessly in a notebook.

“Hey there!” Briseis said as she sat down next to him.

Achilles looked around to see who she was talking to, but when he find no one else, his eyes grew wide as saucers.

“Are you talking to me?”

“Of course I am. Briseis Priamides. And you are?”

The blonde still seemed quite shocked, but answered to the question.

“Achilles Peleides. Can I help you with something?”

Briseis looked back at Patroclus, who was staring at his feet with ears blushed pink.

“My friend and I are starting a study group and I was wondering if you would want to join?”   
“Me?”   
“Why is this such a shocker? We are in the same year, we learn the same things, it is evident that we could help each other. It will be fun.”

“But you don’t know me, why do you want me in your group?”

Briseis shook her head. This guy was a hard case, even worse than Patroclus. They must be meant for eachother.

The professor came out of her room and the lecture hall quieted down.

“I gotta go, but find us after class in the hallway. Bye!”

*

“I can’t believe what you have done!” Patroclus whined as they stood outside the hall after the end of the class period.

“Relax, he is really cute.”

“Yes, I know. That’s the problem.” 

“Don’t be such a baby. He is nothing more than a human, you only idolized him in your brain.”

They spotted the blonde boy easily among the fellow pupils and Briseis waved him over to them. Patroclus could feel his face heating up, but he managed to force out a weak “Hello”.

After giving a polite smile to the girl and turning towards Patroclus, the still slightly puzzled expression changed on Achilles’ face to something of intrigue.

“Do I know you?”

The shorter boy wished the ground could swallow him right there and then, but when this didn’t happen, he had to say something.

“No, I don’t think so. I’m Patroclus Chironides.”

Achilles smiled for the first time as he took the offered hand. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Patroclus.”

Those eyes, that voice and smile. He was sure he had seen them before, like they were branded into his very soul. 

*

Later that night, Patroclus had an intense dream, the kind that sticks with you long after it ends. It was more of a blur of colours and emotions, than anything else, but Patroclus couldn’t forget the longing and love he felt. In the center of all, there was this boy with golden hair, delicate olive skin in contrast with the white tunic he was wearing. 

“Who are you?” he asked the smiling beauty, but there was no answer. “I feel like I know you, tell me your name!” 

“I’m the hero you made happy.”

And with that, Patroclus woke up to be in his dorm again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are all so wonderful, thank you for the love you all sent me <3 I hope you still like it :)


	4. Family, figs and flirting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I finally got the inspiration to update!!   
> The boys are getting flirty and familiar with each other.   
> I hope you like it, and thank you again for your kind comments and kudos!

Patroclus couldn’t stop thinking about that weird dream he had. What could it mean? The figure in the center had to be Achilles, but he looked so different. 

Thanks to the intervention from Briseis, they met every day after classes, to discuss upcoming projects and exams. 

Getting to know the boy made Patroclus fall for him so much more. Achilles wasn’t only a gorgeous face, he was funny and clever, seemed to be talented in everything he tried. 

“Father wants me to become a medic, but I have no real interest in the subject. I always wanted to be a gymnast.”

They were sitting in the park on campus, enjoying the last rays of sunlight of the afternoon. Briseis left them alone with an obviously see-through excuse, but the boys didn’t seem to mind it at all.

“But why didn’t you tell him that. He shouldn’t pressure you into something you don’t like. It’s your life and future after all.”

Patroclus had a hard time imagining a parent who would make his own child study something he had no interest in. He was very lucky with his Father who was always very supportive.

“Because apparently you can’t make a living out of sports. Well I don’t know which planet he lives on, with all these billionaire professionals and all. Anyway, I promised to give it a go, and if I drop out he will see that I’m not cut out for the job.”

“I’m sure you would be a wonderful athlete.” 

Patroclus let it slip out and immediately became red as a tomato. He should really pay more attention to not let his adoration show. 

Achilles laughed, and Patroclus felt really embarrassed again. ‘ _ Stupid, stupid, stupid fool” _ he scolded himself as he stared at his feet.

“You are very sweet to say that, but you have never seen me in the act. I could be horrible and my Father could be right. Actually, no one ever saw me before, since I prefer solitude in the gym.”

Patroclus couldn’t stop his mind to wonder as he imagined Achilles working out alone, beads of sweat rolling down those killer muscles…. Oh for God’s sake, he should really get his thoughts off him if he didn’t want to pop a boner right beside the object of his fantasies.

“So what do you think?” he heard Achilles say, but he must have zoned out, because he had no idea what the question was.

“What do I think about what?”

“Going to the gym with me, so you can see it for yourself.”

_ Oh, fuck-a-doodle. He will definitely need a cold shower after this day. _

“Sure, I would love to.”

 

Achilles moved with the grace of a God. Patroclus looked at him completely in awe, as the boy made a double flip backwards and landed on his feet like it was nothing.

“You are unbelievable” was all Patroclus managed to say.

“You didn’t even see anything yet. I’m just warming up.”

It was clear that Achilles was in his element. Why his father did not see that his son was a miracle was beyond Patroclus, but it wasn’t his place to say anything.

After an extraordinarily long routine, filled with flips and jumps and things the other boy couldn’t even name, Achilles looked like he was glowing. There was an aura around him, something indescribably magnificent.

“There is no mistake, you are a born talent. Throwing this gift away would be a shame.”

Patroclus said finally. Achilles smiled at him, bright as the Sun, and the younger boy felt something warm around his heart at that.

“Thank you. I’m gonna hit the showers, then maybe we can go and eat something? If you are free for the evening.”

_ Is he asking me out on a date? Oh please, tell me he is asking me out on a date. _

“Dinner sounds wonderful. I will wait for you here.”

_ And definitely not imagine you under the shower. Not at all. I would never do that. _

Patroclus felt like he was going crazy, but managed to keep a straight face as Achilles went back to the locker room.

_ Come on, Pat, pull yourself together. It’s only a friendly dinner, nothing else. Don’t make a thing of it. _

 

Achilles came back after a while, blonde hair still a bit damp from his shower. 

“So where do you want to go?” he asked as they walked through the campus. 

“I wouldn’t mind some Chinese food, if you are okay with that.”

“Perfect. I know this hole in the wall place down the road, that has the most delicious chicken. We should check it out.”

Achilles smiled at him, and Patroclus felt a familiar twinge at his heart, the rumble of the city fading away. For a moment it looked like the boy in front of him was not in his faded jeans and t-shirt, but a snow-white tunic. The smile was the same though, just as bright and beautiful as he remembered it. 

“And I would love some figs for dessert.” He heard himself saying.

“Figs? In this season?”

The image shattered, and he was back in the busy street with a rather curious-looking Achilles on his side. 

“I have no idea why I said that.”

“You are one mysterious fellow Patroclus Chironidesz. But I’m up for a challenge.”

Still a bit shaken by the vivid image, the younger boy stayed silent, his mind running one mile a minute. He remembered that dream he had, and in his vision Achilles looked just like that figure in the center. 

 

They arrived at the restaurant not so long after, and after getting their orders, they sat down at one of the tables. The place wasn’t big, but it had a good atmosphere. It was close enough to the university to be full with students.

“You are awfully quiet, what are you thinking about so hard?”Achilles asked as they ate.

Patroclus gathered all his courage and decided to be blunt.

“Us. Where do we stand? Is this a…”

“Oh, you are so unbelievably cute. Yes, I do intend this to be a date.” He hesitated for a second. “But only if that’s what you want it to be.”

Patroclus suddenly felt very lightheaded.

“There is nothing I would want more.”

“Not even figs?”

“Figs can come later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up with a kudos and/or comment! <3 Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up with your thoughts :)


End file.
